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Home » News » Story View ong>Hatch, Bennett say current numbers are inadequate for nation's defense, leading fight to build more

HILL AIR FORCE BASE -- While foreign powers like Russia, India and China continue to develop increasingly advanced aircraft, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch is urging the Department of Defense to increase the production of F-22A Raptors.

Hatch, along with five other Republican senators -- Bob Bennett, Utah; John Thune, S.D.; James Inhofe, Okla.; and Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, Ga. -- recently sent a letter to Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England. In the letter, the senators said the recent grounding of the entire F-15 fleet (some F-15Es have been cleared to fly again) and India's decision to join Russia's effort to develop a new fighter jet, is reason enough for the DoD to bulk up its Raptor fleet.

A total of 100 F-22s have been built by Lockheed Martin Corporation and The Boeing Company. The DoD currently has 91 active F-22s, with planned procurement of 183.

In the letter to England, the senators also asked for three separate reports, which were commissioned by the DoD, to be released publicly and allowed to be examined by Congress.

According to the senators, the reports conclude that a far greater number of F-22s is needed to meet national defense require-

ments.

The number of F-22s the Air Force has planned for purchase has steadily gone down since production on the jet began in the early '90s.

"We continue to be perplexed by the Department of Defense's insistence that only 183 F-22As should be procured," the letter read. "Highlighting this concern is the knowledge that if only 183 Raptors are purchased, this is an insufficient amount to provide one full-strength squadron of 24 F-22As for each of our 10 Air Expeditionary Forces."

Hatch said the military has stated in the past that 381 Raptors is the minimum number of aircraft required to carry out the National Military Strategy.

"For years the Air Force has been saying that the adequate number of F-22 Raptors needed to support our nation and its interest is 381," Hatch said. "Despite that, for what many believe are budgetary reasons not based on the requirements of our National Military Strategy, the current Raptor procurement plan is only 183."

Monica Bland, a Pentagon-based Air Force spokesperson, said the Raptor is critical in maintaining "global air dominance" and protection against possible enemies.

"The F-22A is a critical component of the Global Strike Task Force," said Bland in an e-mail to the Standard-Examiner. "We are recapitalizing our force to counter emerging threats from various potential adversaries as they continue to modernize their own technology."

The Pentagon wouldn't say if "recapitalizing" meant increasing the F-22 fleet from 91 to 183, which was already planned, or increasing the number to 381, as Hatch and the other senators have asked.

However, the Air Force and Navy also recently announced major cuts in manpower, saying the cuts would free up money to buy more planes.

Hill Air Force Base performs major depot maintenance work on the F-22A, including night refueling capabilities and structural modifications.

Hill's 309th Maintenance Wing performs maintenance on about 10-12 F-22s every year.

"We would anticipate that a growing fleet size would translate into greater workload at Hill over the service life of the F-22 fleet," Bland said.

Numerous attempts to get comment from Hill Air Force Base on Hatch's letter and the impact a bigger fleet would have on the base went unanswered.

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